Virtual Teaching in Mathematics:
Assessing the Impact on Course Outcomes, Students, and Faculty

Project Lead: Marty Bonsangue

SUMMARY

In mid-March all spring 2020 classes at CSUF went to a virtual, non face-to-face format due to cautionary measures taken by the CSU associated with the novel coronavirus pandemic. In addition to instruction becoming fully virtual all student assessments were done virtually as well. This shift in teaching, learning, and grading impacted every student and every faculty member, both full-time and adjunct, at the university and throughout the CSU, and will continue through (at least) the fall 2020 semester. This situation presents an unprecedented opportunity to assess the effectiveness and experience of the virtual versus face-to-face instructional process. The importance of this information is perhaps nowhere greater than for the CSUF Department of Mathematics, one of the largest academic departments at CSUF and in the CSU .

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES

T his project, Virtual Teaching in Mathematics, will include a full review of all mathematics courses taught virtually in the fall 2020 semester as compared with the same courses taught face-to-face in the fall 2019 semester. The project will assess student learning outcomes, including course completion rates, passing rates, and course grades. Project VTM will also survey students to examine their perceptions of the impact and effectiveness of taking math in a virtual format and will survey mathematics faculty to examine their perceptions of the impact and effectiveness of teaching math virtually .

IMPACT ON GI2025

The implications for goals associated with GI2025 may be profound given that the fall 2019 cohort of freshmen included in this study is the first six-year graduation cohort included in GI2025. If student course outcomes were augmented for courses taught in face-to-face as compared to virtual modalities, this may provide an opportunity for mathematics departments to seriously consider using virtual instruction on a larger and more permanent scale. If students and/or faculty reported generally positive effects associated with virtual format this may further strengthen that consideration. Conversely, if students and/or faculty reported generally negative effects associated with the virtual instructional modality, or if course outcomes were diminished, this could mitigate against moving towards virtual instruction on a larger scale. Given its scope and size, Project VTM should be able to provide perhaps a more nuanced look at virtual versus traditional models of teaching and learning in mathematics than has been possible in past studies. Information gleaned from this research could have a significant impact for financial and educational models for teaching mathematics in the immediate future at CSUF and other post-secondary institutions .